Valve assembly of valved wind musical instrument

ABSTRACT

Valve assembly for use in valved musical instruments comprises a lug member secured to the valve and movably fitted in the groove longitudinally extending on the inner wall of the valve outer casing, in order to prevent the valve from turning in the casing. The lug member has a pair of projections separated by a slit and also has a screw-receiving bore interconnecting with the slit. Screwing of a screw having a flaring side surface into the bore widens the bore and slit of the lug member, that is, increases the distance between the pair of projections, thereby attaining a snug fitting of the lug member in the groove.

United States Patent 1 [111 3,91 1,784

ShlOI'IO Oct. 14, 1975 4] VALVE ASSEMBLY OF VALVED WIND PrimaryE.\'aminerStephen J. Tomsky MUSICAL INSTRUMENT [75] Inventor: TsuyoshiShiono, Tokyo, Japan 73 Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha,Hamamatsu, Japan 22] Filed: Aug. 28, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 501,438

52] US. Cl. 84/392 [51] Int. Cl. GlOD 9/04 [58] Field of Search84/388-392 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 300,590 6/1884Franceschini 84/392 3,044,339 7/1962 Greenlcaf 84/392 AssistantExaminerVit N. Miska Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cushman, Darby & CushmanABSTRACT Valve assembly for use in valved musical instruments comprisesa lug member secured to the valve and movably fitted in the groovelongitudinally extending on the inner wall of the valve outer casing, inorder to prevent the valve from turning in the casing. The lug memberhasa pair of projections separated by a slit and also has ascrew-receiving bore interconnecting with the slit. Screwing of a screwhaving a flaring side surface into the bore widens the bore and slit ofthe lug member, that is, increases the distance between the pair ofprojections, thereby attaining a snug fitting of the lug member in thegroove 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct. 14, '1975 Sheet 1 of2 U.S. Patent Oct. 14, 1975 Sheet20f2 3,11 7

FIG. 5

f *u' I s i- 4 \3 i i a VALVE ASSEMBLY OF VALVED WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION a. Field of the Invention The presentinvention is concerned with a valve assembly for a valved wind musicalinstrument such as trumpet, and more particularly, it relates to animprovement in the structure of a specific member of this valve assemblyto inhibit undesirable turning of the piston valve of the valve means ofthe assembly which is caused to make sliding movements within a tubularouter casing of said valve means. I

b. Description of the Prior Art In musical instruments classified asvalved wind musical instruments such trumpets, there are provided pistonvalve assemblies in order to vary the effective length of the air columnof the instrument and thereby to control the tone pitches. Such a valveassembly has a piston valve making the reciprocal sliding movementswithin its outer casing, and, in order to ensure the correct registeringof air-passage openings formed through the piston valve with the holesof the tubes provided on the valve casing, the assembly is furtherequipped with special means for inhibiting the turning of the pistonvalve of the valve assembly during the operation of the valve.

This special means comprises a lug member fastened by a screw to apiston rod-connecting block which is positioned in the upper part of thepiston valve. The lug member is received, for engagement, in alug-receiving groove which is'formed longitudinally in the inner wall ofthetubular outer casing of the valve assembly to ensure that the valvebody will not turn during its vertical reciprocal movements in thetubular outer casing.

In manufacturing the lug member and its receiving groove of the tubularouter casing, it is essential that there exists no undesirable-play orspace between the lug member and its receiving groove. This is becauseof the consideration that, in case there is a substantive space betweenthe lug member and the groove for receiving this lug member, 'there willdevelop, clattering noises during the operation of the valve. Theseclattering noises not only do not contribute favorably to the effect ofthe music being played, but also will destroy the feeling or mode of theplayer. Especially, during the recording of a music being played,'theseunnecessary SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION valve assembly having aunique lugmember which has groove-engaging portion of the lug member to therebyops such play again between the lug member and groove due to wear of thelug member during the extended use of the valve, it is now almostimpossible to eliminate this play again by striking the once struck lugmember.

a bifurcated groove-engaging portion which is capable of varying the gapbetween the abutting arms of the bifurcated portion of the lug member soas to be broadened to thereby enable the engaging portion of the lugmember to be set as desired to desirably fit in the guidereceivinggroove of the outer tubular casing of the piston valve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an'explanatory illustrationof valve assemblies as a part of a wind musical instrument.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory illustration of a valve assembly provided witha lug member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 isan enlarged plan view of the lug member shown in FIG. 2, takenalong the line III f III in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV IV in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the lug member and its relatedparts shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory illustration of a valve assembly according toanother embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Hereunder will bedescribed an embodiment of the I present invention by referring to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. I shows a general view of valve assemblies A which are connected toa wind musical instrument such as trumpet. In FIG. 2 is given anexplanatory illustration of a valve assembly A according to the presentinvention, which is provided with a special means for preventing apiston valve from turning within the valve casing. In FIGS. 1 and 2,reference numeral I represents a tubular outer casing of a valveassembly. A piston valve 3 is slidably inserted in the tubular outercasing 1, and a coiled compression spring 2 is located between the lowerpart of the piston valve body 3 and the bottom of the outer casing l tonormally urge this piston valve 3 and, accordingly, the piston rod,toward the top pressing button 6 and to thereby permit the longitudinalreciprocal sliding movements of the piston valve 3.

The tubular outer casing 1 may be made of, for example, brass. Thepiston valve 3 may be made of, for example, nickel-plated brass.

To the top of the piston 3 is secured a special means for preventing thevalve 3 from turning in the casing I. This special means comprises adisk-like block 4. A piston rod'5 is secured to this block 4 to extendfrom the central axis of this block 4. A button 6 is secured to the topof said piston rod 5 to be pressed upon by a finger of the instrumentplayer. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the block 4 is provided, locally inits peripheral part, with a recessed nest 7 of a generally U-shape inconfiguration which opens in the lateral peripheral direction of theblock 4. Within this recessed nest 7 is received a valve-turningpreventive member or lug member 8 for inhibiting the turning of thevalve 3 as will be described later in further detail. This lug member 8may be made of, for example, nickel silver, brass or plastic.

The lug member 8 is of an outer configuration of a generally U-shapewhen viewed from above or bottom thereof. A bore 8a is formed throughthe center of the arcuate U-shape of the member 8. This lug member 8has, in its one end face, a funnel-like outwardly flaring opening 8!;which joins said bore 8a at its central portion.

The front end face 80 of this member 8 is formed to have an arcuateshape when viewed from above or bottom thereof, with a curvaturesubstantially conforming to the curvature of the inner wall of the outercasing 1 so as to be complementary in shape to the inner wall of theouter casing. A pair of opposing separate projections 8;] and 8d isprovided to extend from the central portion of the front end face 80 toprovide between these projections a slit 8e which extends from the frontend of these projections andjoins the central axis of the bore 8a.

The lug member 8 having the aforesaid structure is placed in the nest 7of the block 4 with the funnel-like flaring opening 81) exposed andlocated away from the bottom of the nest 7. Numeral 9 represents aflushhcaded screw having a tapered side surface profile with aprogressively reducing diameter as it goes from the head top toward theshunk of this screw. By screwing this flush-headed screw 9, through theflaring opening 812 and the bore 8a of the member 8, into a threadedhole 7a which is formed throughthe block 4 of the nest 7, the lug member8 is secured to this block 4, and at the same time by forcing thetapered side 9a of the flush-headed screw 9 to progressively engage thesurface of the tapered opening 8b of the member 8, the gap of the slit80 formed between the abutting arms 8d and 8a can be varied to widenthis gap.

The bifurcated end portion of the member 8 or in other words thatportion of the member 8 having the slit 8e desirably has such anelasticity as will act to urge the projections 8d and 8d toward eachother to narrow the gap d of the slit 82. It will be understood that byprogressively screwing the flush-headed screw 9 into the bore 811, thegap of the slit 89 will be progressively widened against the above-saidslit-narrowing elastic force of the bifurcated end portion of the member8. Therefore, as this screw 9 is loosened progressively therefrom and asit is removed eventually, the slit 8e will resume its initial narrow gapdue to the elastic restoring force of the bifurcated end portion. Suchan arrangement of the end portion of the member 8 will facilitate easyadjustment of the positions to be assumed by the projections 8d and 8d.

The above-stated lug member 8 is arranged so that its outwardly flaring(tapered) opening 8b is to be associated with the tapered side 9a ofthe'flush-headed screw 9. It will be understood by those skilled in theart, however, that the member 8 need not have the funnel-like outwardlyflaring opening 8b in order to attain the purpose of widening the gap ofthe slit 82. Instead, the member 8 may have only the central bore 8awith a parallel straight inner wall .face joining the slit 8e. The screw9 having a tapered head portion will act to widen this slit 8c as thisscrew is screwed progressively into the bore 8a. a

Locally in the external threaded portion of the flushheaded screw 9 isembedded a resinous member 10 for preventing the loosening of the screw9 after the latter has been screwed, through the lug member, into theblock. This member 10 is intended to inhibit the occurrence of looseningof the screw due to vibrations during the frequent manipulation of thepiston valve by the player of the instrument.

.Also, on the inner wall face of the outer casing l is formed a lugmember-receiving groove la which extends along the axial direction ofthe outer casing l, The pair of projections 8d and 8d of the member 8are inserted in the lug member-receiving groove la for slidableengagement therewith, whereby the piston valve 3 can be guidedlongitudinally along the inner wall of this casing within the outercasing 1 without causing the turning of the valve 3.

As such, let us now assume that the flush-headed screw 9 is tightenedprogressively by a screw-driver or like means. Whereupon, the stresswhich is developed at the tapered face 9a of the flush-headed screw 9acts upon the surface of the tapered opening 8b of the lug member 8 insuch a way that the tapered face 9a of the flush-headed screw 9 slidesforcibly downwardly into the tapered opening 8b of the lug member 8while broadening the diameter of this tapered opening 8b. Owing to theresulting broadening action of the tapered opening 812, the gap (1 ofthe slit 8e of the member 8 is widened, with the result that the overalldistance between the outer corners at the front ends of the twoprojections 8d and 8d is increased.

As such, the minute adjustment of this overall distance between theouter corners of the projections 81] and 8d of the member 8 almost up tothe full margins of the lug member-receiving groove lu by turning theflush-headed screw 9 so as to most desirably allow the sliding movementsof the member 8 in the groove enables the elimination of the unnecessaryplay between the lug member 8 and the lug member-receiving groove la.

The above-mentioned embodiment has been shown as one having the spring 2which is arranged at the bottom of the piston valve 3. According toanother embodiment of the invention, the spring 2 may be provided on topof the valve 3 and between the top of the casing l and the springreceiving plate 11, and surrounding a portion of the piston rod 5, asshown in FIG. 6.

The present invention is applicable to any kind of apparatus requiringthe particular actions of the device of this invention. However, musicalinstruments to which this invention can be applied include tuba,euphonium, fluegelhorn, piccolo-trumpet, horn, and other valved windmusical instruments.

As stated above, according to the valve assembly of the presentinvention, there is provided a slit in the lug member at the portionengaging a groove formed on the inner wall of the outer casing whichreceives the piston valve, and the gap of this slit can be widened bythe use of a flush-headed screw or like means to thereby establishdesirable perfect fit of the lug member in the lug member-receivinggroove. Thus, it is possible to desirably completely eliminate anunnecessary play between the lug member and the lug memberreceivinggroove. Moreover, the arrangement according to this invention permitsthe prevention of undesirable noises to generate during the operation ofthe piston, and this contributes to an improvement in the effect of themusic being played.

Also. the adjustment of the breadth of the groove engaging portion ofthe lug member relative to the lug member-receiving groove can beaccomplished simply, only by the manipulation of the flush-headed screwor like means. Therefore, there can be greatly reduced the time which isrequired for the play-eliminating operation during the adjustment of thepistons. As such, the piston adjustment operation is greatly simplifiedand accomplished easily. Besides, in view of the fact that according tothe present invention, there is not included any process of striking thelug member by a hammer, which has been done in the past. Accordingly,the manufactured valve assembly presents a good appearance of finish.Moreover, in case there develops an undesirable play again due to wearduring an extended use of the piston valve, such a play can be correctedagain quite easily in the manner as stated above.

I claim:

1. A valve assembly for use in a valved wind musical instrument,comprising a tubular outer casing having a groove extendinglongitudinally on the inner wall of the casing, a piston valve slidablyand reciprocatingly housed in said outer casing, a lug member having apair of abutting projections fitted in said groove, said projectionsassuming a distance therebetween and being movable along thelongitudinally extending groove, and means for securing said lug memberto the piston valve and for adjustably varying the distance between saidpair of projections.

2. A valve assembly according to claim 1, in which said lug member has acentral bore passing therethrough and a slit joining at one end saidbore and separating said pair of projections.

3. A valve assembly according to claim 1, in which said valve has arecessed nest formed at a peripheral portion thereof and has a threadedbore passing through the nest, said lug member is received in said nestand has bifurcated projecting end portion providing said pair ofprojections fitted in the groove of said tubular outer casing anddifining therebetween-a slit and has a central bore passing therethroughand joining said slit, and said means comprises a flush-headed screwpassing through said bore of the lug member into the threaded bore ofthe nest.

4. A valve assembly according to claim 3, in which said bore of the lugmember is outwardly flared for receiving said flush-headed portion ofsaid screw.

5. A valve assembly according to claim 3, in which said screw has atapered side surface profile with a progressively reducing diameter itgoes from the head top toward the shunk of this screw.

1. A valve assembly for use in a valved wind musical instrument,comprising a tubular outer casing having a groove extendinglongitudinally on the inner wall of the casing, a piston valve slidablyand reciprocatingly housed in said outer casing, a lug member having apair of abutting projections fitted in said groove, said projectionsassuming a distance therebetween and being movable along thelongitudinally extending groove, and means for securing said lug memberto the piston valve and for adjustably varying the distance between saidpair of projections.
 2. A valve assembly according to claim 1, in whichsaid lug member has a central bore passing therethrough and a slitjoining at one end said bore and separating said pair of projections. 3.A valve assembly according to claim 1, in which said valve has arecessed nest formed at a peripheral portion thereof and has a threadedbore passing through the nest, said lug member is received in said nestand has bifurcated projecting end portion providing said pair ofprojections fitted in the groove of said tubular outer casing anddifining therebetween a slit and has a central bore passing therethroughand joining said slit, and said means comprises a flush-headed screwpassing through said bore of the lug member into the threaded bore ofthe nest.
 4. A valve assembly according to claim 3, in which said boreof the lug member is outwardly flared for receiving said flush-headedportion of said screw.
 5. A valve assembly according to claim 3, inwhich said screw has a tapered side surface profile with a progressivelyreducing diameter as it goes from the head top toward the shunk of thisscrew.